


Violent Rhythm

by red_crate



Category: Teen Wolf (TV)
Genre: Canon Compliant, Character Study, Gen, POV Peter Hale
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-08-22
Updated: 2017-08-22
Packaged: 2018-12-18 18:00:42
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 754
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11879847
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/red_crate/pseuds/red_crate
Summary: The light refracts against Stiles’ eyes. Golden hues glitter beneath the brown, shining almost beta yellow where Stiles stares up at Peter with apprehension.A look at Peter offering Stiles the Bite.





	Violent Rhythm

**Author's Note:**

> I've been thinking about this hard for almost a week, kind of obsessed with the idea of _why_ Peter might have asked Stiles if he wanted the bite. 
> 
> My endless thanks to DarkHunterJenn for enabling me, and helping me work out the rhyme. Huge thanks to Mysenia for the quick read through.

In the glare of the floodlights, Peter notices something striking.

Stiles is saying, “Just kill me. Look, I don't care anymore,” kneeling on the ground where he landed as he pleaded for Lydia's life. The boy's voice is resigned, tired almost.

His heartbeat is strong and fast, and Peter knows Stiles is looking to buy time for someone else to find them. He smelled Argent faintly, wonders if that is who Stiles hopes will rescue them.

Peter’s lips curls as he cleans the blood off his fingers, not bothering to look at Stiles at first, just so the boy can imagine how low he ranks on his list of priorities. When he looks down, claws as clean as they can get from a dry cloth, Peter sees it.

An old nursery rhyme filters in through his consciousness. Before he knows what he's doing, Peter is reaching down and pulling Stiles up, closer. The flutter of Stiles’ pulse is quick, and Peter can feel the nervous roll against his fingertips as he swallows.

_The Bite is a gift for the human._

_With eyes of gold, the wolf inside_

_Surely takes hold._

The light refracts against Stiles’ eyes. Golden hues glitter beneath the brown, shining almost beta yellow where Stiles stares up at Peter with apprehension.

It's then that he decides to put Stiles a little more at ease. Lydia will either live or die. Medical intervention can do nothing for her now. Despite that, Peter says, “Call your friend.” He's caught staring in that golden hue, mind racing as he calculates strategy and likely outcome. “Tell Jackson where Lydia is. That's all you get.”

The ride to Jennifer's car is interesting. Mostly, Peter is amused by the impotent hostility Stiles has for him. His scent fills the cabin of the Jeep, anger, annoyance, anxiety. Peter breathes it in, pleased, though it should be more of an insult that Stiles doesn't smell fearful in his presence.

Once they're standing in the parking garage and Stiles is downplaying Scott, trying to protect him, Peter can't help but wonder.

He needs a bigger pack. Derek sees Stiles as a reluctant ally. Scott is his best friend. Giving Stiles the Bite would likely to pull the three of them together and towards Peter. Stiles has a loyal streak a mile wide, willing to put himself in imminent danger for the sake of those closest to him. Bravery goes hand in hand with loyalty for Stiles. He's smart and clever; Peter knows about the research Stiles did right after Scott was bitten. For most humans, even considering lycanthropy would be ridiculous.

_The Bite is a gift for the human._

_With eyes of gold, the wolf inside_

_Surely takes hold._

“So you're not going to kill me?” Stiles asks, voice barely shaking.

Peter steps back from the car, back to Stiles. He enjoys the spike of fear that threads through Stiles’ scent for a moment as he stutters at Peter's advance.

Killing Stiles outright would benefit no one, especially not Peter. “Don’t you get it yet? I'm not the bad guy here.”

As annoying as it is to listen to Stiles paint him as a monster, and as annoying as it is to know Stiles isn't wrong in the strictest sense, Peter admires Stiles’ bravado.

It's easy, then, to offer. No longer feral, this is his first chance to do this right and _ask_. He manipulates the teenage insecurity that exists even among best friends.

“You’d be equals. Maybe more.” Peter can't help but picture Stiles as a wolf, as _his wolf_.

Stiles could easily be so much more than Scott ever might.

When he reaches for Stiles’ wrist, there is no resistance, only apprehensive curiosity. Peter can smell the desire just beginning to form. He lifts Stiles’ arm up.

“Yes, or no?” Peter holds Stiles’ gaze, listens intently to his heartbeat.

Stiles hesitates, so Peter takes initiative. He turns his head, lets his fangs begin to fall. He can taste the ghost of Stiles’ pulse on his tongue just when Stiles snatches his arm back and says ‘no’.

The rejection is tempered by that stutter of Stiles’ heart. It stings and insults Peter, but he knows what he heard, what he smelled on Stiles.

“You may believe you're telling the truth, but you are lying to yourself.”

When he says 'good-bye,’ Peter promises himself it won't be final.

_The Bite is a gift for the human._

_With eyes of gold, the wolf inside_

_Surely takes hold._

 

Stiles will say yes.

**Author's Note:**

> By the way, I added "the Bite is a gift" because I liked the idea of this rhyme being a family thing all the Hales grew up learning. Yay for old wives tales, or whatever this sort of thing I'd classified as! *Confetti* 
> 
> Check me out on [tumblr](http://the-redcrate.tumblr.com).


End file.
